Christopher Powell (Earth-616)
Real Name: Chris Powell Nicknames: Bucket-Head Former Aliases: The Edge-Man Falconer Other Aliases: The Powell __TOC__ Occupation: Superhero Identity: Secret Marital Status: Single Group Affiliation: Excelsior, New Warriors and Avengers West Coast / Avengers Reservist, leader League of Losers, founder Secret Defenders, also formerly Queen's Vengeance Base of Operations: Los Angeles currently, Queens historically Place of Birth: Queens, NY Known Relatives: Mike and Grace, parents, Brothers Jon and Jason First Appearance: Darkhawk #1 Origin: Chris discovered a mysterious amulet which transforms him into the armoured vigilante Darkhawk. Powers Strength Level: Strength level unknown Known Powers: "Darkforce Blast," "Darkforce Shield," Claw Cable, Flight, Enhanced Vision and Super Strength. History Chris Powell was the teenage son of Mike Powell, a cop, and Grace Powell, a District Attorney. Following his younger twin brothers, Jon and Jason, to the abandoned amusement park across from his home, Chris discovered his father taking a bribe from mob boss Phillipe Bazin. While trying to escape with his brothers from Bazin's henchmen, Chris discovered an amulet that transformed him into the Darkhawk armour. When his father disappeared after Chris saw him, he swore to use the Darkhawk armour as an "Edge Against Crime." Darkhawk's powers included a force blast which emanated from the amulet on his chest, a force shield from the same amulet, a claw cable which could serve as both a Wolverine-like claw, and a grapple cable, glider wings and later flight capability, enhanced vision and strength, and an image underneath the Darkhawk helmet which served to frighten and distract his enemies. As the series developed, Chris learned that his armour was actually an autonomously existing android armour, one of five commissioned by an alien mob lord named Dargin Bokk, being held in a sentient space ship, Osch, in Null Space. When Chris grasped the amulet, it actually caused his body to switch places with that of the Darkhawk body, although his mind remained in control of the body. Later, Chris and Darkhawk would actually split into two separate entities, with the armour being updated into the "2.0" form, as it was informally known. This advanced form of armour gave DH new powers, such as the ability to form a force shield encasing his body, an actual "Hawk" construct (a gigantic force-field shaped like a hawk), and the ability to summon weapons from Osch. By the end of the series, DH 2.0 and Chris re-merged, with the prospect of no longer needing to use the amulet in order to switch bodies. Enemies: Darkhawk's series was relatively short, but he developed quite a roster of enemies: he would fight Spider-Villains such as Hobgoblin, Tombstone, and Venom. HIs own "Gallery of Villains" included Lodestone, a magnetically-powered villain developed by Bazin, Evilhawk, the evil space gangster who commissioned the original Darkhawk armours, and Overhawk, a rebuilt Darkhawk. He also fought against some who would later ally with him, such as Portal, a teleporting mutant who killed another Darkhawk and stole parts of his armour, Savage Steel, the armour created by the secret police cabal that Chris' dad had been a member of, and Damek, a mercenary sent from the future to kill DH. Allies: Darkhawk also made many friends and allies throughout his career. He often teamed up with Spider-Man. As a sometime member of the New Warriors, he befriended Speedball, Nova, and later, Turbo. He also has a longstanding friendship with Spider-Woman II (Julia Carpenter), who he fought alongside with as a founding member of the Secret Defenders and as an ally, and later Reserve Member of, the Avengers West Coast. Post Darkhawk #50: After his series ended he was relegated to minor appearances in Wolverine, Avengers, Thunderbolts, and other books. However, he has recently resurfaced as a founding member of Excelsior and is the de facto leader of the unofficial "League of Losers" in Marvel Team-Up. Darkhawk in Marvel MAX In 2001, Marvel Comics broke with the Comics Code Authority and created its own rating system for its comics. In doing so, it developed the MAX line of comics, a mature line of titles, set outside Marvel continuity, which often included swearing, nudity, harder violence. One of the titles was US War Machine, a black-and-white book which featured Jim Rhodes, the original War Machine, as a vigilante working with a team of armoured soldiers and the military to fight menaces. To that effect, his support crew re-activated that universe's Darkhawk. In MAX, DH was a psychpathic android, which could only be controlled by running a virtual reality program. In fact, the program, a "fiction" within that universe, played out the events where Darkhawk had been a member of the Avengers West Coast within normal Marvel continuity. The program itself also appeared in the final pages of US War Machine 2.0, in which Jim Rhodes puts Tony Stark's damaged body inside the Darkhawk program, to keep him alive. Trivia * Darkhawk's armour and appearance has been a continued source of debate amongst Marvel "True-Believers." After his series was cancelled, his new appearances often reverted back to the original Darkhawk armour. As of his Excelsior appearances, he is in "DH 1.0" form, although he had appeared a few times as DH 2.0 prior to this. * Also, Darkhawk is aware of his status as a hero within the Marvel 2099 universe, in which he is known as "The Powell," one of the "most powerful, and feared, heroes in the universe." Bibliography * Darkhawk #1-50 (March, 1991 – April, 1995) * Darkhawk Annual #1-3 (1992 – 1994) * New Warriors #14, 22-25, 47-51 * ''Runaways Vol. 2 #1-6'' Darkhawk Outside Marvel Comic Books / Canon flies through New York.]] * There is no licensed action figure of Darkhawk, however there are some fan created ones. * Darkhawk has made two TV appearances on the Fantastic Four animated series. He appeared alongside Justice and Speedball in "To Battle a Living Planet," and with Justice in "Doomsday." * He has also appeared in the pages of What the--? Marvel's humour comic, as Darkgeek. Related Articles * New Warriors * Portal * Excelsior * Runaways * Avengers West Coast External Links * Darkhawk @ New Warriors Continuity Conundrum * New Warriors Message Board ---- Category:Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Secret Identity Category:New Warriors members Category:Secret Defenders members Category:Male Characters Category:Single Characters Category:Excelsior members Category:New Warriors members Category:Avengers members Category:Avengers West Coast members Category:Wikify